The Future of Construction Conference took place on 30th October in London and our CEO Umer Mansoor joined some of the construction industry’s sharpest minds to discuss everything from industry skills shortages to the latest innovations.
The event was hosted by Newable and offered a snapshot of key projects within the construction industry. There were lively debates covering timely industry topics including diversity in construction and the future of the construction industry.
Construction Helpline founder Umer is passionate about futureproofing the construction industry. Umer is especially interested in digitisation and bringing the sector in line with its peers when it comes to utilising technology to revolutionise construction processes and projects. The Future of Construction Conference offered a special focus on growth and getting ready to supply – both topics of interest to Umer and Construction Helpline.
The range of speakers included Dr Mike Pitts, Deputy Challenge Director at Innovate UK, a non-departmental public body dedicated to UK research and innovation. Dr Mike Pitts discussed transforming construction and detailed how the standardisation of components could help provide a more cost-effective and time efficient build process.
Another speaker of interest to Construction Helpline was Professor Jacqui Glass of University College London (UCL). Jacqui discussed changing the construction industry and what the future holds for the industry. Jacqui founded the Action Programme for Responsible and Ethical Sourcing (APRES) and was ranked 30th in the 2018 Top 100 Corporate Modern Slavery Influencers Index so was able to bring a wealth of knowledge and valuable insight to the event.
As Construction Helpline provides construction training and CSCS cards, Francesca Findlater’s talk about employment in the construction industry proved insightful for Umer. Francesca is the Founder of Bounceback. The company runs schemes such as ‘Mind the Gap’ which helps rehabilitate prisoners back into society. Bounceback arms those in the scheme with a broad spectrum of construction skills from within the prison walls, offering the construction industry a solution to certain skills shortages.
Another point of interest at the conference was Chloe Obi’s talk. Chloe is Head of BIM at Bouygues. Bouygues UK delivers award winning construction and regeneration projects and focuses on sectors where the business is able to add value through its technical expertise. The talk was especially interesting given that the use of technology in the construction sector is something that Umer has championed over the years in order to futureproof the built environment industry.
Other speakers included Anjali Pindoria of Avi Contracts. Anjali was winner of the Construction Role Model of the Year 2019. Anjali is passionate about promoting the construction industry positively and champions the honest promotion of construction among the public.
There was also interesting industry insight from Zac Gazit – Technology and Business Development Director at Cogress Ltd, a company that provides investment opportunities.
Thanks to all of the people we met and the speakers at The Future of Construction Conference. If you would like to discuss health and safety or digitisation in construction, please contact us.
